When Christianity was over for my mother

I just got off the phone, having talked with my mother at length about, mostly, Christianity. I don't know how we got on the topic but it was a great conversation. It was nice to talk about something on an intellectual level, for a change, instead of whatever has gone wrong with whomever in the family. I cannot believe what she just told me. She asked me if she ever told me when she knew Christianity was over for her. She hadn't, and I was afraid of what I was going to hear.

My mother was born and raised in the Bible Belt, in Tennessee. Her father, who I never met, was a lay Baptist preacher and, by all accounts, a horrible human being. He was an alcoholic and was abusive to a degree from which my mother has never really recovered. By chance when I was pregnant with my son, I told her I was thinking of naming him Luke. She said, "Luke is not a good name for your son. My father's name was Luke. I don't want to have to say it," That is all I know about my grandfather.

I had always thought that my mother rejected Christianity because of her experiences as a child, and though they surely did contribute to her atheism, her description of her moment of realization that she could not be a Christian made me burst into laughter.

She said she was about 15 years old, and at church. She looked across the aisle at the opposing pew and thought of the people singing, "They look like cows." And that was it. She said that to this day every time she sees cows she still thinks they look like people singing at church. When I stopped laughing, she said, "Although I do like cows."

I will never look at cows, or my mother, or how I came to be the way I am, the same again.

4 members like this

Comment by Diane on January 21, 2013 at 8:32pm: I'm not even going to milk it either. I will put it out to pasture.

Comment by Strega on January 21, 2013 at 8:34pm: Surely you mean 'pastor'...

Comment by Diane on January 21, 2013 at 8:51pm: I can't believe I missed that opportunity! You're the cream of the crop!

Comment by James Cox on January 21, 2013 at 8:52pm: We should not attempt to 'dehumanise' others generally, but I do wonder about this position.

Last night I went to a 'Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Program', with our local UU church. They had a good meal and rather nice conversations, but it was clearly a very religious event.

I walked out after the following little ditty,

During the 'worship', we had a Choir sing, 'Awesome', and 'Hold on, A change is coming'. I list a transcription of 'Awesome', here:

1st Verse

My God is Awesome

He Can Move Mountains

Keep Me in The Valley

Hide Me from the Rain

My God is Awesome

Heals Me When I'm Broken

Strenght Where I've been weaken

Ever He will Reign(Repeat from Top)

Chorus

My God Is (Ladies)

(Everyone) Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome (repeat Chorus)

2nd Verse

My God is Awesome

Savior of the World

Giver of Salvation

By His Stripes I am Healed

My God is Awesome

Today I am Forgiven

His Grace Is Why I'm Living

Praise His Holy Name (Last line Ending The Song)

Chorus (Repeat One Time)

Special

He's Mighty (4x's) Awesome (2x's)

He's Holy (4x's) Awesome (2x's)

He's Great (4x's) Awesome (2x's)

Deliverance (4x's) Awesome (2x's)

Provider (4x's) Awesome (2x's)

Protector (4x's) Awesome (2x's)

Back to 1st Verse (Last line "Praise His Holy Name")

Please forgive my excess on this one posting....;p(

Comment by Diane on January 21, 2013 at 8:53pm: Stephen, your response killed me. Brilliant!

Comment by SteveInCO on January 21, 2013 at 9:16pm: I have no beef with any of this.

Comment by Diane on January 21, 2013 at 9:47pm: James, what a hideous song! Someone should write a parody of it to help rid your mind of its awfulness.

Comment by Strega on January 21, 2013 at 9:56pm: @Diane

Bullseye!

Comment by Diane on January 21, 2013 at 10:38pm: I got as far as

"My cow is flatulent

She can move mountains"

and my mind caved in. I better hoof it off to bed.

Comment by onyango makagutu on January 22, 2013 at 3:24am: Haha! I thought they look more like sheep than cows, interesting story though.

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